Meet Pearl Moon's Founder

Melissa Middlebrook brings to her teaching over forty years of experience and training in the movement and healing arts. Melissa took her first yoga class in 1987 and has been devoted ever since. She studied intensively for many years while continuing a career as a modern dancer.

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Following several years of training and practice in the Iyengar Style, Melissa began in-depth yoga study under Marie Svoboda, Seattle's "grandmother of yoga.” For nearly 20 years her main teachers were Angela Farmer and Victor Van Kooten, world-renowned innovators of their unique approach, sometimes referred to as "yoga from the inside out."

She continues to study and explore both yoga and other techniques including the therapeutic aspects of yoga with Doug Keller.  http://www.doyoga.com/index.html

Other inspirations that Melissa weaves into the tapestry of her teaching include:

~ Mindfulness meditation with Tara Brach & Jack Kornfield

      

~ Frontier Biology w/ Peter Lund Frandsen   

      

~ The Franklin Method

      http://franklinmethod.com/

~ Continuum

      http://continuummovement.com/      

~ Brain Dance

      http://creativedance.org/about/braindance/

~ InterPlay 

      

~ Shamanic Practices

      

Melissa graduated from the Seattle Reflexology and Massage Center in summer of 2018. Through SRMC she was able to study with many inspiring leaders in reflexology from around the world and is excited to bring this work to her students and clients. Once in-person classes resume, she will continue her training with holistic podiatrist Dr. Ray McClanahan to receive his Natural Foot Health Certification.

Melissa holds a Yoga Teacher Certification from Viktor Van Kooten and Angela Farmer and is a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) with Yoga Alliance. She is also a WA State Certified Reflexologist (B01753) and Nationally Board Certified Reflexologist (60821214). Additionally she is trained as a level 3 Reiki practitioner. 

Melissa lives and teaches in Seattle’s Queen Anne neighborhood where she and her husband raised their daughter who is now at WWU in Bellingham. She is the administrative manager for her husband's remodeling business and when not teaching or practicing reflexology, Melissa enjoys being in nature, hiking, swimming, cooking, reading and, pre-quarantine, traveling.

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Melissa is a gifted teacher. She is patient, listens to my needs, pays attention to how my body is (or is not) moving, and then comes up with the perfect work-out for me for that session. 

She is so much more than a yoga instructor. It’s unfortunate insurance and the medical industry don't recognize what she does as “treatment”. She is truly a healer. She knows so much about how the body works and about the mind-body connection. With that knowledge she helps me understand how to listen to my body during a session and when I am not in session with her. 

In addition, she knows how to organize a session so that when it comes to the end, I can relax deeply into my body and feel the differences the session made deep in my muscles. It’s a blissful feeling.  ~Anne B.

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Melissa Middlebrook